Weekend Review: Sublime Salah shines while Arsenal’s title hopes dealt hammer blow

Liverpool (5/4) have one hand on the Premier League title after beating Manchester City (2/1) 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium, in what was a welcome result for the bookies in a positive weekend.

A 25th league goal of the season for Mo Salah and a close-range effort from Dominik Szoboszlai was enough to hand Arne Slot’s side an 11-point advantage at the top of the table. 

It was a dismal weekend for Liverpool’s nearest title challengers Arsenal (7/25), who succumbed to a shock 1-0 home defeat to London rivals West Ham.  

Jarrod Bowen’s header late into the first half resigned the Gunners to a first home defeat of the league season and all but ended their title charge, all while taking out a swathe of accas for punters across the UK.

Newcastle (9/10) came out on top in a thrilling 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest (11/4), leaving the Magpies fifth in the table and level on points with Manchester City. 

Elsewhere, Aston Villa (8/5) got the better of Chelsea (3/2) courtesy of a 2-1 win, with a Marco Asensio brace handing the Blues a third successive defeat in all competitions.  

Other eye-catching results saw Wolves beat top four challengers Bournemouth 1-0 and Manchester United clawed back from 2-0 down to draw away at Everton.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill reflected on a mixed weekend as one that ended with the operator “nicely ahead”. 

“A weekend of what look like significant results as Arsenal look to have thrown their chances away again and Liverpool look to be in an almost unassailable position,” Gill remarked.  

“The Liverpool result saw punters finish ahead, although not by a significant amount, with just the two goals helping the final position. Newcastle’s 4-3 win over Forest was another statement result for two teams chasing Champions League, with punters again finishing ahead there helped by the seven goals scored.  

“Villa’s win over Chelsea was another good result for punters, but on the flip side Arsenal losing to West Ham at home killed swathes of accas, as well as being a great result for the book and our best result of the weekend overall.”

Betfred’s Alan Firkins analysed the weekend’s fixtures and the positive impact Liverpool’s latest win had for the bookmaker. 

He claimed: “Pride of place performance-wise has to go to West Ham, winners at the Emirates against Arsenal thanks to a solitary well-crafted Jarrod Bowen header, and with that probably went the Gunners’ wafer-slim title hopes.

“Liverpool, doubtless delighted, then rammed home their advantage with a performance screaming ‘champions-elect’ at the Etihad, containing and ultimately despatching Manchester City 2-0. 

“Slot’s men looked solid in every department and have opened up a yawning 11-point gap at the top. We were top-price both ahead of Sunday’s rainy showdown so turnover was excellent, and with City failing to register that certainly helped the bottom line.” 

And as this week’s Weekend Review went live, Betfred has now paid out on Liverpool to win the league.

A Betfred statement read: “Fred’s seen enough. Betfred are paying out early yet again, this time on Liverpool winning the Premier League.

“He went a standout 9/1 Liverpool at the start of the campaign, and after the weekend’s results he reckons it’s time to settle – costing a cool one million pounds.”

Bet365’s Steve Freeth added it is now a debate over just how many points Liverpool will win the league by. 

He noted: “A mixed bag in the Premier League with defeats for the fancied pair of Arsenal and Bournemouth, but we then had the two goal early payout at Everton before a Super Boosted Bruno Fernandes got Manchester United back on an even keel. 

“The late Aston Villa winner wasn’t ideal, nor were the goals at Newcastle but the talk of there being a title race can surely be put to bed with Liverpool 5/4 to win the title by 10 or more points after their win at the Etihad.” 

Freeth also reflected on results on the continent, including away wins for Atlético Madrid and Barcelona, winning 3-0 and 2-0 away at Valencia and Las Palmas, respectively. 

A Real Madrid without the suspended Jude Bellingham got the better of Girona, thanks in part to a Luka Modric screamer. Athletic Bilbao romped to a 7-1 victory against Real Valladolid. 

Freeth, who also reflected on Italian fixtures, added: “European customers finished Saturday night well after 21/20 Atlético Madrid had done the business at Valencia with hotpots Barcelona (2/9) and Inter (1/3) eventually getting over the line.  

“The La Liga/Serie A favourite-fest was followed up by 3/10 Real Madrid and 5/6 Juventus winning on Sunday along with 1/5 Athletic Bilbao banging in seven and 1/2 Atalanta bagging five at Empoli bringing joy to those of a bet builder persuasion.” 

Staying in Italy and Cesc Fabregas-managed Como won 2-1 at home to title contenders Napoli, which Gill said was the second-best result of the weekend behind Arsenal’s loss to the Hammers.

Analysing the standout fixture in the Bundesliga, Freeth explained: “Over in Germany it was the Serhou Guirassy show with the Borussia Dortmund striker helping himself to four goals in the 6-0 win over Union Berlin. He was well backed at 7/1 to score a header and 22/1 for a hat-trick.   

“And in France we finished the weekend with a punter-friendly 3-2 win for 1/2 PSG at Lyon in what was a good couple of days for fans of continental football.” 

Meanwhile, it was a thrilling weekend of horseracing that saw Tripoli Flyer put in a stellar performance to win the Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle.

The 5/2 runner beat the favourite Miami Magic in a comfortable win for trainer Fergal O’Brien to make it three straight wins in a row after victories in the Scottish Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and the National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle last November.

Mambonumberfive, ridden by Ben Jones at 10/1, came out on top in the Adonis at Kempton, with the 5/6 favourite Mondo Man back in third. St Pancras at 9/2 was sandwiched between the pair.

“A couple of successful ITV favourites on Saturday, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for punters,” Firkins assessed. “Tripoli Flyer did his outside chance of Supreme Novices’ glory at Cheltenham no harm when taking the Dovecote at Kempton impressively (16s now, from 33s).

“Mambonumberfive lifted the Adonis to earn a 12/1 quote from 25s for the Fred Winter. The [Cheltenham] Festival, it’s worth noting, is just over two short weeks away.” 

Finally, England’s dramatic 16-15 Six Nations victory over Scotland on Saturday came as somewhat of a shock, especially as Scotland fluffed their lines at the death to take the win.

Firkins added: “The Calcutta Cup has been the preserve of the Scots in recent seasons, but England edged an absorbing thriller 16-15 at the Allianz Twickenham on Saturday.  

“Plenty of the smart money was on the Scots, plus around nine on the handicap, and anyone who took threes-on or thereabouts for an England win would have been perspiring freely when Finn Russell had a late chance to win the match for the visitors but agonisingly missed the conversion attempt.”